A New Year of Thanksgiving

by Linda Veath

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Yes, you read that right. Happy Thanksgiving Day. I know I’m early—over 300 days early. But every day can be a “thanks giving day” if we let it be. No matter what our circumstances, there is something to be thankful for.

We can thank God for the ordinary, everyday things. A bird singing outside our window. Clouds in the sky. An unexpected card in the mail. Flowers. A God-encounter with another Christian. And of course, our home, food, clothing, jobs, etc.

We can also thank God for being with us during times of darkness. When the doctor says it’s terminal. When a loved one goes to heaven to be with the Lord. When the job we love is taken away. Whatever the circumstance in our lives—good or bad—we can give thanks to Him.

Did you know that the word “thanks” and all its derivatives are used over 150 times in the Bible. “Praise” and its derivatives are used over 330 times. Apparently our thanksgiving and praise are important to the Lord. Thus they should be important to us as well.

So, have you ever thought of starting a “praise and thanks giving journal?” Maybe it’s time to do that. We could write down at least one thing we are thankful for every day. By doing that, we’ll find ourselves looking at each day with new eyes of thankfulness.

And if we start now, we can have over 300 thanks listed in our journal by the official Thanksgiving Day in November. A sweet aroma of thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior.

So …….. what are you waiting for? Let’s praise the Lord!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. ~ Psalm 150:6 NIV